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The Lost Art of the Handwritten Note

There's no denying the wonders of electronic messages, but nothing captures a moment like putting pen to paper

By

Philip Hensher

Dec. 28, 2012 11:50 p.m. ET

How many cards did you send this holiday season? Probably fewer than 10 years ago. And how many did you receive? Probably fewer again. Whatever the case, wasn't there a small burst of pleasure at seeing a once-familiar hand on the envelope, among all the dreary waste of modern postal delivery? Did you not feel that someone you knew had, for once, reached out and greeted you, in a way that an email or a text never could?

Handwriting is less important in our lives than it has ever been. In a British survey carried out in...